The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 527 There are techniques to talking to him

Yang Yizhong looked utterly dejected: "Marshal Yue, please execute me! I failed to protect the Emperor properly, causing him to be killed by treacherous officials. Why has no one punished me?"

Yue Fei: "..."

This is very awkward, and I don't know what to say for a moment.

Yang Yizhong jumped up and shouted to everyone, "Please execute Yang Yizhong!"

The surrounding soldiers scattered instantly, not one of them approaching.

It turns out that this wasn't the first time Yang Yizhong had caused such a scene. Zhao Gou had been dead for a year, and Yang Yizhong had been in this state ever since, ordering everyone he met to be beheaded.

His former subordinates spent a lot of time and even fabricated a reason that the imperial prison in Lin'an was no longer useful, that the Song Dynasty was going to move back to the old capital Kaifeng, and that the imperial prison was only available in Kaifeng now, before they managed to coax Yang Yizhong out of the Lin'an imperial prison.

Yue Fei felt quite distressed to see his former valiant general in this state.

Then a man stepped forward from the side. He was one of Yang Yizhong's former subordinates. He leaned close to Yue Fei's ear and whispered, "Marshal Yue, now that we're getting Commander Yang to do some serious business, we need to be tactful in our communication."

Yue Fei: "What techniques are there?"

The former subordinate whispered, "Watch closely, I'll show you."

After saying that, he walked up to Yang Yizhong, clasped his hands in a salute, and said in a solemn manner: "Commander Yang, the new emperor has ordered that you lead your former Imperial Guard troops to join Marshal Yue's command and participate in the Northern Expedition to attack the puppet Qi state."

Yang Yizhong: "This sinful subject has no face to lead the army. Please execute Yang Yizhong."

The former subordinate said, "The new emperor said that after we conquer the false Qi, we will investigate your crime of failing to protect the emperor, and then we can execute you."

Yang Yizhong was overjoyed: "Then I'll be going on this Northern Expedition."

Yue Fei: "!!!"

Yang Yizhong leaped ten feet into the air and roared, "Where are the Imperial Guards? Where are my Imperial Guards? Where have they all gone? Come back quickly! We're going to war."

His former subordinates swarmed around him, surrounding Yang Yizhong.

Yang Yizhong roared, "What is our slogan?"

The old subordinates all knew how to appease Yang Yizhong, and they all cheered together, "Conquer the puppet Qi! Execute Yang Yizhong!"

Yang Yizhong's morale soared: "We must fight this battle well."

Yue Fei covered his face in surprise...

Han Shizhong leaned closer and asked, "Is this guy useless now?"

Yue Fei: "It seems like I'm ruined, but it also seems like I'm not ruined yet."

Han Shizhong: "After all, they are the Yang family generals. Their Seventy-Two Styles of Yang Family Spear Technique are unparalleled in the world. Let's just make do with it."

While Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were reorganizing their troops, large quantities of food and weapons were being transported to the barracks, thanks to the efforts of the civil officials.

The soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty rarely had a good life. Back when they were still in the Southern Song Dynasty, apart from Yue Fei's army, whose logistics were relatively good, the logistics of other armies were a complete mess. Not only did corrupt officials embezzle their pay, but officials at all levels also extorted and demanded bribes along the way, leaving the soldiers with less than one tenth of their pay.

So you really can't blame the Southern Song soldiers for being weak in combat. They didn't even have enough to eat, how could they be strong?
With Li Gang in charge of logistics, Yue Fei's army was well-fed and able to defeat Jin Wuzhu in a rout. This shows that the weakness of the Southern Song Dynasty was not the fault of the soldiers, but of the treacherous officials.

In actual history, after Li Gang was demoted and Yue Fei died, the Southern Song Dynasty's fighting strength collapsed to the point where it was worse than a paramecium.

Now, the treacherous officials who were holding them back are gone!
Li Gang has returned to take charge of their logistics.

Seeing cart after cart of supplies being delivered to the barracks, the Southern Song soldiers' eyes widened: "Are you giving us so much food and pay?" "Look at this waist knife, it's a hundred-times-forged steel knife! It's so much better than the knife I used before."

"This armor is for soldiers? My God!"

"This rice...this noodles...are so white."

"The new warhorses of the Beiwei Army are amazing; every single one of them is a fine steed."

When the Southern Song soldiers saw this batch of supplies, they felt valued for the first time.

In an instant, the morale of the entire barracks soared.

Just then, a small troop walked in from the gate of the barracks. This troop was clearly organized by the Northern Song Dynasty, and each soldier carried a long musket.

The leader was a middle-aged man who walked up to Yue Fei and bowed: "This humble general is Niu Gao. I have been ordered to transfer to Marshal Yue's command to participate in the rapid army of the Northern Expedition."

Yue Fei was a quick learner. After arriving in the Northern Song Dynasty, he had already studied firearms for a year. As soon as he saw the long-barreled muskets carried by Niu Gao's men, he immediately recognized that they were a rifled musket unit, also known as a skirmisher unit. They were specifically responsible for moving freely on the flanks of the main army formation and firing freely, mainly to snipe enemy generals.

He immediately understood why this unit was assigned to him. His own fast army was mainly composed of Southern Song cold weapon troops, but this would reduce its deterrent effect on the Jin army. Therefore, a scattered force was transferred to provide him with long-range fire support.

Skirmishing units are quick to move and are not as rigid as artillery and musketmen, making them ideal for supporting fast-moving forces.

After reporting his arrival, Niu Gao headed into the barracks.

The stragglers behind him followed him inside.

Suddenly, they became the coolest guys in the barracks.

A large group of former Southern Song soldiers surrounded the scattered soldiers, circling around them and occasionally exclaiming in surprise, like people watching Four Happiness Meatballs at the Chongqing Zoo.

“The soldiers of the Northern Song Dynasty were dressed very well; their clothes were made of the finest cotton.”

"Huh? Aren't they wearing armor? Why are they all dressed in plain clothes?"

"You don't know anything. This is called cotton armor, also known as cloth armor. It's a special craft from the Northern Song Dynasty. Although it's made of cotton, it can withstand swords and arrows. It's very powerful."

"Hey bro, can I touch your nail?"

Niu Gao's men were treated like royalty, and they couldn't stand it. In the blink of an eye, they all became excited and said with smiles, "Now there is no Northern or Southern Song Dynasty. We are all soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty and comrades-in-arms. Why be so polite? Feel free to touch, but don't take my musket. Military regulations are very strict. If someone tries to take my musket, I must fight back to protect it."

The former Southern Song soldiers marveled and began groping the stragglers.

Some people were touching their cotton armor, some were touching the nails on the armor, and some were touching the rifled muskets with envy on their faces.

The stragglers laughed and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll get your share in a few days. Our General Niu used to be a general in the puppet Qi state, and we were all soldiers of the puppet Qi state. After surrendering to the Northern Song, we weren’t discriminated against, and we received everything we were entitled to. You came from the Southern Song, so you won’t be mistreated either.”

The former Southern Song soldiers felt much more at ease after hearing this.

If soldiers from the puppet Qi regime were treated well, then soldiers from the Southern Song Dynasty certainly had nothing to fear.

"Hey! It's true that we'll be eating meat every few days from now on!"

"I've heard that the Northern Song Dynasty was very skilled at raising chickens and pigs!"

"Haha, I've been stationed in the Tongbai Mountains before, I know that, and I even learned how to raise pigs scientifically."

The barracks were filled with jubilation.

(End of this chapter)